A volcano struggling to erupt

Highschool was a bit of a challenge for me. Maybe because of the new environment or maybe because I started to grow up, to think different.

In the 9th grade I felt like I needed to do something more than just school and usual classes. Thus, I joined the debate club from my school. I was an active member for one year and a half and I took part in some debate competitions. It was extremely useful for my speaking skills and it also helped me to figure out that informal education is really important.

You learn a lot from school. From teachers. But the most important thing is that you learn a lot from the people who surround you and from yourself, also.

Discovering your skills, your capacities, your possibilities, your path is not an easy job. You always think that you know yourself better than anyone. But is that really true? Well, that’s a thing that GROW taught me.

When I finished 10th grade, I decided to take part in the most amazing project of my summer. There I learned that I have a lot of qualities which are waiting to be developed.

I learned that it’s important to explore yourself because YOU are more than a teenager. You are a volcano struggling to erupt! You have more to give and even more to learn.

The people I met there had a great impact in my progress as a human being. Because even if you don’t notice it, every person you meet influences you somehow. And of course, getting to know people from the other side of the world it’s not something that happens daily. They share their own experiences with you, they teach you a lot of things about self-exploring. Isn’t that cool?

You learn new things from new interesting people. Being surrounded by people of your age and working with them as a team it’s also a part of GROWING. Therefore, that summer changed my perspective. It was the moment when I decided I will participate again. This year, after I finished 11th grade, IT happened.

New people, new trainers, more fun and more about GROWING. Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore and USA sounded like something really far away. But this year it wasn’t that far because of the international trainers who came here for their development and also for ours. I think this is like a trade. We share our opinions, our thoughts and our experiences. It’s a WIN-WIN situation. We grew together ! All of us.

It’s important to know what you are capable of. Maybe you don’t think about it until it comes a certain moment. For me, that moment was GROW. After that, I knew it was a certainty that I like to communicate, to express my feelings, to be surrounded by people. In a few words, I have some good social skills and I am ready to improve them because I like this area. I am not 100% sure of what my profession is going to be, but it will definitely be something that has to do with people; maybe public relations or something related to social sciences.

So, this summer, the project ended for me, but it will continue for other people who are willing to participate and I wish them all the best. Now I have to continue GROWing by myself. Next year, I am going to enter the university and then I will start the next stage of my life. But my informal education needs continuity, and I am definitely sure that I want to be a pro-active student. I want to get involved in projects for young people and teenagers. It is important for us to support each other as young people. We have to be united, to follow our dreams. It is an extraordinary thing that organizations such as AIESEC and Școala de Valori are there for us. And I want to be a part of it too. I want to see how is it like to GROW from another point of view, also.